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Dupree scores 23 to lead Sky past Sun

Aug 2, 2009 - 3:26 AM CHICAGO(AP) -- Candice Dupree scored 20 of her 23 points in the first half to lead the Chicago Sky to an 84-72 victory over the Connecticut Sun on Saturday night.

Jia Perkins scored 16 points, Dominique Canty and Erin Thorn had 11 each and Shyra Ely added 10 for the Sky (10-10). Canty also had two steals to reach 300 for her career.

Chicago took advantage of Connecticut's miscues, scoring 28 points off the Sun's 16 turnovers.

"We picked it up defensively and moved the ball really well," Dupree said. "Everyone was getting open shots and we were being aggressive on both ends of the court."

Tan White scored 16 points, Anete Jekabsone-Zogota had 12 and Asjha Jones 10 for the Sun (9-9).

Trailing by six early in the second quarter, Chicago used a franchise-record 26-0 run to take a 46-26 lead on Ely's driving layup with 59 seconds left in the first half.

"I've never seen a run like that against us in the seven years I've been coaching this team," Sun coach Mike Thibault said. "We tried different things, we didn't have it. We turned the ball over during that time. We were missing shots. We did everything you could possible do wrong for 6 minutes."

The Sky stretched the lead to 69-42, their biggest of the game, on Thorn's 3-pointer with 3 minutes left in the third.

"I just think everybody was comfortable and it was about having fun," Canty said. "It started on defense. We were getting a lot of stops and were converting into points."

The Sun pulled within 11 late in the fourth quarter, but got no closer.

"We got a little run to start the fourth quarter, and got it to 14 or whatever it was," Thibault said. "Our starting group just didn't play well tonight."

Chicago has won two of three from Connecticut this season, taking the season series for the first time in its four-year history.

Canty became the 11th player in WNBA history with 800 career points, 800 rebounds and 300 steals.

"It's my 11th year and it's a great accomplishment," she said. "I'm pretty grateful."

The Sun used a 15-0 run that began late in the first quarter to take a 26-20 lead on Amber Holt's jumper with 7:08 left in the half.

Dupree, who had eight points in the first quarter, then had 10 in the Sky's big run over the next 6 minutes to take control of the game. Chicago led 51-31 at halftime.